Ensilage blower



Feb. 5, '1946. R. B. vHITCHCOGK ETAL 2,394,058

ENSILAGE` BLOWER' Y Filed July 22, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 5, 1946. R. B. HITCHCOCK ET Al. 2,394,058 ENsILAGE BLOWER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 22.l 1944 Patented Feb. 5, 1946 I y g y -`2,394,058" Y' ENSILAGE BLOWER Rex B. Hitchcock, Evanston, and Samuel E.

Hilblom, Chicago, Ill., assignors to International Harvester Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application July 22, 1944, Serial N0. 546,143

6 Claims. V(Cl. 302-37) This invention relates to a new and improved -ensilage blower and has for one of its principal objects the provision of means for uninterruptedly feeding ensilage to-the blower.

An important object of this invention is to for an ensilage blower is positioned parallel with the blower, the material is fed into the blower at right angles thereto.

Ensilage blowers are employed for the purpose of blowing cut and chopped ensilage up into a silo or other storage bin. It is customary to pro-V vide the ensilage blowers with a feed trough capable of receiving ensilage being discharged from a wagon or truck or the like, and thereupon feeding it into a blower and elevating the ensilage to a silo. The means employed in the trough for feeding the ensilage to the blower has usually taken the form of a slatted conveyor, the discharge end of which would live adjacent the blower. A seriousproblem of clogging the en` silage blower was always present in thel machinesof the type just describedf for the reason that the entire mass of ensilage would proceed as a unit toward the opening in the blower fan housing. The result of this mass movement to the blower fan housing was, in effect, a sealing of the blower fan housing. This, of course, immediately .prevented elevating of ensilage to the silo for the reason that conveying by blowing requires a continuous flow of air. In other words, the material to be elevated rides upwardly on and with the air being blown 'through the conduit. Therefore, lwhen the air supply is cut off, the fan might continue to operate but will have no effect toward raising the ensilage.

It is, therefore, a further important object to provide means whereby the blower fan will be continuously supplied with air regardless of the rate at which the ensilage is fed to the blower Figure 3 is a detailed sectional view takenon the line 3-3 of Figure 1;'

Figure 4 is an end view of the ensilage blower as shown in Figures 1 and 2; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 2.

As shown in the drawings:

The reference numeral I 0 indicates generally a base on skids on which the ensilage blower of this invention is mounted. A blowerfan housing II is located at one end of the base i0 and is positioned longitudinally thereof. A feed trough I2 lies adjacent the blower housing I I and extends parallel thereto along the length of the skids I0. The blowerhousing is .provided with an upwardly extending discharge port I3 upon which may be attached extension conduits leading to the top of a silo or the like.

The skids I0 are provided with upwardly inclined end portions I4 and at the top thereof are equipped with a hitch member I5. In order to transport this ensilage blower during short travels about the immediate farm, the hitch meinber I 5 is raised andattached to the draw-bar of a tractor or the like. It will thereupon be-seen that the machine will drag on its skids I0. This ensilage blower including the feed trough is a relatively narrow machine and is conducive to pulling on skids. Heretofore, it has been the general practice to have the feed trough positioned at right angles to the blower, and in that type of construction the machine was relatively wider and made transportation more difficult. For longer trips, of course, the device can be put on a truck. The feed trough shown is hinged to the fan housing for optional straight or right angle feeding. This feature is disclosed and claimed more specifically in our copending application entitled Ensilage blower having feeding feed hopper and having Serial No. 546,144.l

The feed trough I2 has a relatively steep wall I6 lying adjacent the blower housing II. The other side wall IY'I of the trough I2 is inclined at an angle such as shown in Figure 5. This .provides a wide opening for the top of the trough and insures ease of' filling. An open-end vauger I8 lies within the base portion ofthe trough and, by means' of its spiral flights I9 is adapted to feed ensilage within the hopper or trough I2 in a direction longitudinallyof the length of the trough and toward the blower housing II. -The discharge end 20 of the auger I8 is unsupported and unobstructed so that ensilage being moved within the trough by the auger will pass freely out Qi the end 20 of the auger andvinto a chamlber 2| mountedover an opening 22 in the fan jhousing I I. tically positioned fluted feed roll 23 adapted to ;rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow 124 as shown in Figure 3. The roll 23 has radially The chamber 2| contains a verextending flutes or paddles 25. The housing 2| is circularV in shape and conforms .closely tothe' circumference of the iiuted feed rollA 23. lfeed trough I2 is separate from the chamber 2| `and is joined only through the restricted open- The ing 26. This opening 26 is circular in shape and lis only slightly greater in diameter than the `diameter of the outer edges of the auger ighting 1 I9. It is apparent thatby restricting this opening `2|5 to such size Ithe material admitted tothe cham- ;ber 2| is limited to the amount carried within the f circumference of the auger. lto prevent congestion within the blower.

This feature .tends As the ensilage leaves the discharge end of the auger I8, it is forced .through the opening and is thereupon carried by the paddles 25 outwardly andthencearound into the opening'22 in the 'fan housing II .j The ensilage'material therefore enters thefan housing atright'angles therejto' in spite of the fact that the feed trough extends parallel to the fan housing.

The blower housing Il'contains a fan 21 which ,is adapted to receive material entering the openlving 22 and throw it and blow it upwardly through Ithe discharge port I3. As best shown in Figure 1, `the side Wall of the blower housing II has a plurality of small apertures'12`8-lpositioned vaboveand These apertures insure a constant supply of 21 in its travel within the housing II picks up `air as it Ypasses theropenings 28 and .comes down `and around and picks upensilage as'i't'is fed into lthe entrance 22, whereupon the combination Yof lair and ensilage yis thrown and 'blown upwardly :out the. discharge port I3.

The drive employed for Ythe lVarious-elements,

sich as the auger, the feed .roll and' the fan, las lshown, is received from the pulley '29 which is driven from a tractor power take-off pulley but Imay possibly be drivenby vsome stationary engine or" the like. The' pulley 29 mounted on and ,fastened to a shaft '3.0 which extends ,inwardly land at its opposite end supports thefan 2'1 .within the housing |I. a suitable housing 3| which is fastened to the stationary blower .housing Il. `k-eyed or otherwise fastened vto the shaft '310 with- `in the housing 3|. .A cooperating .bevel gear 33 iis placed at right angles to the rst Vbevel gear I32 and `is also positioned within the .supporting housing3l. Wise fastened to a shaft A34 which projects downwardly and carries a V-belt pulleyor thelike 35 atits lower end. .A downward. v.exten-sion 35 of iof thehousing 3| is adapted to journally support the shaft 34. A V-belt pulley ,3-1 is .mounted von Qthe` lower. .endof a shaftl 38upon which isf'astened the feed roller 23. A` VLbelt .39 .joins `the pulleys `35 and 31and thus transmitsrotation from the drive pulley 29 to thefeed roller. Y23.. A worm 4l) iis keyed. or otherwisefastened. to the shaft 38 land is adapted -to .cooperate with. a. worm gear 4I. These gearsnamely 4D andM, are mounted The shaft 3I|is jour-naled within The bevel gear33`is keyed or otherwithin a gear box 42. Thewormgear. 4I is.y keyed skids I0. This shaft 43 is joined by a universal joint 44 to an extension shaft 45 which is in turn joined by a universal joint 46 to a shaft 41. A sprocket 48 is keyed to the end of shaft 4l. A second sprocket 49 is mounted on the end of the auger I8, and, by means of a chain 5B, rotary driveisftransmitted from thesprocket 48 to the sprocket 49;.

It will be apparent that herein is provided a 'novel and eflicient feed means for an ensilage The device is Well adapted to preventY blower. congestion in the blower and guarantees feeding of the ensilage material at the proper angle with respect tothe blower. Further, the apertures 28 in the' wall of the fan housing I I insures a continuous flow of vair into the fan and thereupon a continuous flow fof air under pressure to the silolling conduit.

What is claimed is:

1.. In an ensilage blower. comprising afan housing, a feed hopper positioned parallel to said fan housing, a compartment intermediate and adjoining said fan housing and feed hopper, and a fluted feed roll positioned 'vertically in and .iournaled for rotation in `saidcompartrnent for the purpose of transferring ensilage from the feed hopperto the fan housing.

2. An ensilage blower comprising a fan, a housing for said fan having an opening in the side, an elongated hopper positioned parallelto said fan housing, an auger within 'and' extending lon' gitudinally of said hopper for feeding ensilage, a compartment adjacent the discharge .end of said hopper, anda vertically positioned fluted feed roll within said compartment adapted to receive ensilage `from the hopper auger and feed it at right angles into said fanhousing opening.

3. An ensilage blower comprising afan, a'housing for'said fan having an opening in the side, an elongatedjhopper lpositioned parallel to said fan housing, an auger within and extending longitudinally of said hopper 'for feeding ensilage, 'a compartment adjacent the'discharge-end of said hopper, said compartment 'having a restricted opening in the side thereof to aline With said hopper auger, said compartment' having a second Aopening adjacent said fan housing opening, andl a vertically positionedv iiuted feed roll within said compartment adapted toV receive ensilage from'.

the hopper auger through the restricted opening in the compartment and feed it at right'angles through thesecond opening in said compartment and into said Vfan housing thr'ou'ghvthe opening in the side thereof.

4. An ensilage blower comprising' a fan, a housing vfor said fan having an opening in the side, an Velongated hopper positioned parallel to said fan housing, an auger within andeXtending .longitudinally of said hopper for feeding ensilage, a compartment adjacent the discharge end of said hopper, said compartment having a restricted opening in the side thereof to aline with said hopper auger, said' restricted opening being circular Vin-shapel and of a size-onlyslightly'greater in diameter .than the diameter of the hopper auger, said compartment having a communicating passage with said fan housing opening', and a vertically positioned iiuted feed roll within said compartment adapted to lreceive a moderate supply of ensilage from said hopper auger and feed it perpendicularly into said'. fan housing opening.

5. An ensilage blower comprising a fan, a housing for said fan havingan vopening in the side, an elongated hopper positioned parallel to said fan housing, an auger Within and extending 1ongitudinally of said hopper for feeding ensilage, a compartment adjacent the discharge end of said hopper, said compartment having a restricted opening in the side thereof to aline Ywith said hopper auger, said compartment having a second opening adjacent said fan housing opening, and a vertically positioned fluted roll Within said compartment adapted to receive ensilage from the hopper auger through the restricted opening in the compartmentL and feed it at right angles through the second opening in said compartment and into said fan housing through the opening in the side thereof, said fan housing having a second opening spaced from the compartment to maintain a supply ofV air for the fan.

6. In an ensilage blower Ycomprising a fan housing, a feed hopper positioned parallel to said fan housing, a compartment intermediate and adjoining said fan housing and feed hopper, and a feed roll positioned vertically in land journaled for rotation in said compartment for the purpose of transferring ensilage from the feed hopper l0 to the fan housing,

REX B. HITCHCOCK. l SAMUEL `E. HILBLOM. 

